Journey of the Hunted
by forensicgirl21
Summary: What if Yuna chose the final aeon and then couldn't defeat Sin? What if Rikku becomes a Summoner? What if Bevelle has blamed Rikku for the failed pilgrimage and is now hunting her down like a criminal? This is that story. T for Teen, AU, and Aurikku.
1. Prologue

Hey. Not for sure what to say here. Its been a while. Summary: What if Yuna chose the final aeon and Sin wasn't defeated? What if Rikku and the surviving guardians go on a new pilgrimage? What if Bevelle had claimed that Rikku had sabotaged Yuna's pilgrimage and was after her? This is that story. Rated T. Oh it will be Aurikku before the end, so if you don't like, you don't have to read.

Sorry, but I forgot to put this when I first uploaded this, and didn't notice that I didn't put it until now. So... I do not own Final Fantasy X.

* * *

Journey of the Hunted 

Prologue

* * *

Three years ago my cousin Yuna… she died… trying to bring the Calm. There was seven of us, Tidus he was like my big brother, Lulu she was something like a sister to me, Wakka he was our comedian and Al-Bhed hater, Kimahri was always silent and watchful, Yuna as I've already said she was my cousin, there was Auron guardian to Uncle Braska before Yuna, and there was me. 

As we traveled we began to understand each other, and before we reached Zanarkand we were like family. Zanarkand is where we lost our hope… or where I lost hope.

* * *

_We walked into Yunalesca's chamber, where she stood._

_"Welcome to Zanarkand. I congratulate you, summoner. You have completed your pilgrimage. I will now bestow upon you that which you seek. The Final Summoning...will be yours. Now, choose. You must choose the one whom I will change...to become the fayth for the Final Summoning. There must be a bond, between chosen and summoner, for that is what the Final Aeon embodies: the bond between husband and wife, mother and child, or between friends. If that bond is strong enough, its light will conquer Sin. A thousand years ago, I chose my husband Zaon as my fayth. Our bond was true, and I obtained the Final Aeon. There is nothing to fear. You will soon be freed of worry and pain. For once you call forth the Final Aeon, your life will end. Death is the ultimate and final liberation. Your father, Braska, chose this path." She said. "Have you chosen the one to become your fayth? Who will it be?" _

_Yuna turned to us. "Are there another way?"_

"_There has to be Yuna!" Tidus said. "There has to be a way to break the cycle. If you choose the Final Aeon… Sin will just come back again!"_

"_Yeah Yunie, there has to be another way. We'll think of something." I said._

"_Yeah, we'll come up with something!" Tidus shouted._

"_Listen... You wanna defeat Sin and keep Yuna alive... You don't want Sin to come back, ya? That is just not gonna happen, brudda, you know?"_

_"If you want everything, you'll end up with nothing." _

"_But…_

"_This is the way, this is the only way to defeat Sin. Yuna use me." Lulu said turning back to Yuna. _

"_But…_

"_Yuna don't…_

"_What happens if there is no other way? How many years will Spira survive if there is no way to defeat Sin? How many people would I be killing if there is no other way?" Yuna said. _

"_You can live your life worrying about "What if", but if you let the "What ifs" of life consume you, you'll end up with nothing." Auron said._

"_Sir Auron…_

_"Now! This is it! Now is the time to choose! Die and be free of pain or live and fight your sorrow! Now is the time to shape your stories! Your fate is in your hands!" he says. I Think he may have been rehearsing that for ten years._

"_Sir Auron, the risk is too great. Even if it does come back, at least the people in Spira will not have to be afraid for ten years, at least Sin will be gone for ten years, and if there is another way another summoner may find it."_

"_It is your choice." Auron said. _

"_I choose… I choose the Final Aeon." she said turning towards Tidus. "I know that you believe there is another way. You may be right, but I am not willing to risk it if there isn't. Yunalesca said that there has to be a strong bond between Summoner and Aeon, before we can defeat Sin. Tidus I choose you."_

"_Okay." he said stepping up to her. _

"_Summoner and chosen follow me." Yunalesca said as a stairway appeared out of no where. Tidus and Yuna followed her up the stairs. I turned and walked over to Auron. He knew about this, and he seemed to be trying to push Yuna to find another way. I guess I wanted to apologize for screaming at him so much for pushing Yuna to come here. _

"_What's wrong?" I asked _

"_I've failed my friends and my friends'__ children. I've broken too many promises." he said. _

"_You, you tried. We all tried, all of us except for Lulu and Wakka." I said. He looked at me and walked off. I followed him. We were close to the travelers sphere when he stopped. _

"_What now?" he asked._

"_You fulfilled your duty as a guardian to Uncle Braska, you tried to get him to try another way, but in the end he chose death and tradition over life and hope, it wasn't your fault. You couldn't have done anything to change his mind. You kinda raised Tidus, and made sure he was okay, and you made sure Yunie was taken care of… so you kept your promises about looking after them. But now, Yuna is following in Braska's footsteps. You couldn't have changed her mind either."_

"_Rikku, ten years ago after we fought Sin I couldn't except what had happened. So I went back to face Yunalesca. On Gagazet a group of Al-Bhed provided me with food and shelter during a storm. Before I left a man and his wife asked me would I find a way to truly defeat Sin for their kids. I promised them that I would find a way. I went on and fought Yunalesca, and she struck me down. I managed to crawl to the top of Mount Gagazet where Rin found me. He took me to one of his shops and tried to nurse me back to health, but I was too far gone…_

"_You're… you're unsent?" I ask as my mind spins out of control._

"_Yes." _

"_I, I had no idea." I manage to say as I stare out at the wastelands before us. 'Oh my Gods, he is, he is like that creepy Seymour.' I think to myself as I continue to stare out at nothing in particular. 'No he's not like Seymour, Seymour was crazy and creepy. Seymour tried to kill us. Auron has saved our lives over and over. But still, he's, he's dead! Eww! No! Rikku! This is Auron, he may be dead, but he's the same Auron he always was. Its not like suddenly he's turned into a monster. He has never been prejudiced against me because I am Al-Bhed, so why should I fear him, because he is dead?' "So you have to keep your promise to the Al-Bhed couple before you can go on wherever um, you go?"_

"_Yes. Promises are not meant to be broken." he says looking at me. _

"_I want to find another way to defeat Sin also. Maybe although we will have the final aeon, we still can find a way to defeat it for good… and save Yunie and Tidus." _

"_No. When Yuna summons her Aeons to fight Sin, it will kill each Aeon. Then once she summons the final aeon Yu-Yevon will take over the Aeon and use it to kill Sin and Yuna. Then he will make a new Sin using the Final Aeon."_

"_What if we fight the Final Aeon and kill it before it kills Yuna. That's what Tidus would want us to do."_

"_We could try." he says. _

_As soon as everyone joined us, we went to the Calm Lands. Auron briefed us on our plan to kill the Final Aeon as soon as it killed Sin. Yuna didn't care much for the idea, and the more I thought about it the more I didn't like it either. I mean Tidus was going to be the Final Aeon and I didn't want to kill him. But he seemed to support the plan. I know Auron had to be suffering also, Tidus was kind of like a son to him. _

_Once we arrived at the Calm Lands, we engaged in battle with Sin. I hasted everyone and began throwing supreme gems at it, Wakka began hitting it with his blitzball, and Auron cast Auto-Life on everyone before he began slashing at it with his sword. We were doing a pretty good amount of damage. Then suddenly it hit us with something and I was out like a light! _

_The next thing I knew Wakka was standing over me. "Welcome back to da world of da living." I stood up and Yuna came in to take my place. I watched as she summoned Valefor and instructed her to haste herself, before attacking. After a few turns, she energy blasted Sin. It didn't seem to hurt it much, because after everything settled from the blast, Sin hurt Valefor pretty bad and Yuna dismissed her. Lulu came in and replaced Yuna then. After several spells it got Lulu good. Wakka Phoenixed her and Yuna came back in. Auron kept slicing away at it. Suddenly it attacked with something that KO'd everyone, but Auto-Life kicked in and brought everyone back! Then Yuna Grand Summoned the big, scary, fish-mummy-thing… erm I mean Anima. Anima went into Overdrive mode and Oblivioned the hell out of Sin! After that attack Sin's shell busted and we ran inside. _

_After several hours of running we found Seymour and kicked his ass all the way to the Farplane. Then we found Braska's Final Aeon and made mince-meat of him. That's when Yu-Yevon came. Yuna summoned one Aeon at a time, Yu-Yevon took over it, and we killed it. Bye-bye Valefor… you've been a good old girl. See you on the Farplane Ifrit. Sorry Shiva, its time to say so long. Ixion, you were a pretty unicorn/horse thing. Bahamut, I hope there is Ice Cream and cake on the Farplane waiting for you. Yojimbo, go on where you belong you con-artist. Anima, you were, a nice big, scary, fish-mummy-thing. Magus Sisters, I think its time for you to say, 'We are taking a long break.'. Then Yuna summoned Tidus. Yu-Yevon took him and before we could make one move, a bright light surrounded us. The next thing I knew was something was cutting through my skin, and then I was out like a light. _

_Some time later I woke up in a cave. Auron and a Ronso were talking. Then I heard the Ronso tell Auron that the only survivors was Kimahri and us. I sit up and looked at Auron. _

"_Did we win?"_

"_Yu-Yevon made Tidus hit us with something… from what everyone says it was some kind of wave. It killed Yuna, Wakka, and Lulu on impact."_

"_Yuna's dead." I said. I couldn't say anything else. I couldn't even think. I cried. After some time I managed to calm myself down some. "What about Sin?"_

"_It's still here. You damaged it's shell but its still here. It'll be dormant for maybe a month before it starts attacking again. The wave it attacked you with, flooded parts of Macalania, the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth, and some of the buildings outside of Bevelle. Over a thousand people are reportedly dead. Mika is saying that an Al-Bhed spy sabotaged the pilgrimage…_

"_Huh?" I asked not believing what I was hearing. _

"_Rikku, they are blaming you." Auron said. _

"_Mika ordered a raid on all the travel agencies, and somehow managed to shoot the air-ship down. No one on board was hurt. But they are watching everyone on board, closely… watching in case you come to one of them for help." the Ronso said. 'No… no this can't be happening. Yuna's dead, Tidus is going to be Sin, Wakka and Lulu are dead… a lot of people I don't know are dead, Sin's still here, and I am being blamed. Yuna and Tidus will never get to see the Moonflow together at night. Wakka and Lulu will never know whether they could've been more than friends. Yuna will never know what its like to truly live. Tidus won't get to become more famous than Jecht was. Lulu won't get to teach that black magic class that she wanted to teach. Wakka won't get to coach the Auroch's team, or watch them win the world championship. Tidus will never get to propose to Yuna. Yuna won't get to have a family with Tidus. I'll never get to see my cousin, my big brother, or two of my closest friends ever again.'. Tears were streaming from my eyes, and I realized I was screaming. Bile was in my throat and I just wanted to puke until my lungs fell out. I felt like someone had reached inside of me and ripped my heart out. I fell forward and puked and cried. Two arms wrapped around me, holding me up off of the rock floor. Someone was speaking to me, but I couldn't understand what they were saying. After a while the hurt, and the sorrow turned into anger. My tears began drying up, and I began fighting whoever it was that was holding me. The anger kept growing, and I fought harder. I was kicking, slapping, hitting, and biting. Finally as I began to wear down I stopped. _

"_WHERE IS SIN?" I yelled._

"_Its…_

"_Where is it?"_

"_Its some where in the Ocean." the Ronso said._

"_Why?" Auron asked grabbing my arms. _

"_I'm going to go kill it!" _

"_Rikku, you're one person. You're not strong enough to kill it!"_

"_YES I AM! LET ME GO!" I yelled_

"_No, stay! Get a hold of yourself! If you want to kill it, you need more training, and more people." Auron said shaking me. _

"_What if I become a summoner? What if I train hard?"_

"_I'll guard you." Auron said. _

"_Okay. Let's go." _

"_Not until night. Every warrior monk in Bevelle is searching for you." _

* * *

It has taken us three years to reach Besaid. I haven't seen my father, or brother in three years. I guess they think I am dead. Bevelle has lessened their searches for me, but still the warrior monks have set up checkpoints along every road and in every city or village. We've heard that warrior monks now stand guard at all of the temples. Some time last year we ran into Kimahri who has been traveling with us since. I don't know how I am going to complete my pilgrimage especially now that the temples are guarded. But I have to for Yuna, Tidus, Wakka, Lulu, and everyone that has died because of Sin, and Yevon. I have to end the cycle once and for all. If I am captured by the warrior monks, I'll be executed. If I try and see my family I'll be captured. If I'm not strong enough, fast enough, or quiet enough I'll be dead. But as Auron told Yuna before she… well before she chose the Final Aeon "If you let the "what ifs" of life consume you, you'll end up with nothing." 

Tonight I get my first Aeon. Tonight my journey starts.


	2. Chapter 1: Besaid Temple

I got bored so I thought I would go ahead and post this. Let me know if you find any errors, I've read over it a couple times but I'm still not for sure that I found all of them.

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy X.

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Journey of the Hunted

Chapter 1: Besaid Temple

* * *

A couple hours before daybreak this morning we had made it to one of the caves near the ruins here on Besaid Island. Opening the door would have required this sphere key thing, and we didn't have it… so we dug through on one of the sides. It took the three of us about an hour, but once we were through we managed to find some brush to cover our make-shift door. Then we crawled in. It was pitch black inside. I turned on my little flashlight, that Kimahri had found one day a while back when shopping for us, and looked around. There was some cute little drawings on the walls, one said "L+C 4-Ever" I couldn't help but wonder if that meant Lulu and Chappu forever. I laid down next to the wall using my bag as a pillow and studied the drawings until I fell asleep.

Sometime later Auron woke me up. I started to ask him what time it was but he covered my mouth and nodded towards our make-shift door. I followed him over looked out. Two warrior monks were standing beside of a small campfire that was about ten feet away from the cave.

"I guess its time to go to work. I'll give you a yell if I let anyone through the checkpoint." one of them says and begins walking towards the beach. The one left behind sits down and begins drinking from a water bottle. After a few minutes watching I reach inside on of my pouches and pull out a bag of sleeping powder. Auron grabs my hand and holds it shaking his head.

"We wait." he whispers as he points at the warrior monk. Waiting hasn't ever been my thing so I walk back to where I was sleeping and begin looking through my bag. Suddenly Mr. Legendary Meanie Butt turns and waves me back to our door.

The guard has left his post apparently so now is the time for us to move. I crawl through the door and stick to the shadows as I walk towards the path leading to the village. As I pass a path leading away from the village I see the guard standing, with his back turned taking a leak. I don't know what I would have done for the past three years if the human bladder had a larger capacity. I sneak onto the path leading towards the village and keep to the shadows.

Suddenly Auron grabs my arm and pulls me down a hill. I trip a couple of times before realizing we are in a woods like area. Auron helps guide me over fallen logs, and through vines as we steadily go down the hill. After a while my eyes adjust enough to see the outlines of things, but I still can't make out very much detail. It seems like we have been walking forever when Auron stops and kneels.

"We climb down." he whispers. I kneel beside of him and he begins climbing down. I wait for him to get over the ledge and then I start. 'One foot down, feel for a groove in the rough surface that feels like a rock, another foot down feel for a groove in the rock, one hand down, find something to hold too, another hand down, lower than the first… nice little handle… oops no good it broke off… okay find another… this one will work… one foot lower… nice big groove… the other foot lower.. Ouch what was that? Thank the Gods I am wearing pants or else my knee would be scraped up pretty good right now. What's next? Move my hand lower… nothing here to hold too… move to the right a little… there we go… the other hand lower… that feels firm… grip it and lower one foot… nice groove… nope I hope Auron wasn't below me… or had his eye shut. Remember one trip-up and I'll be falling down farther than I want to think about right now. Jeez how far down could this thing be? Ten, twenty, maybe thirty feet… okay… never mind. Don't want to think about it. Why couldn't we do things like this during the daytime? Oh yeah don't want to lose my head to those Yevon bastards. Oopsie here I am dangling from a cliff that I have no idea how high it is and I am thinking words like that… sorry whatever higher being there is out there. Maybe nothing will strike me down with lightening for thinking that. Jeez girl get a grip! Very funny. Okay what next? Foot down, find a groove, remember just like Pops taught me on all those excavations. But that was during the day! I could see what I was doing, and where to grab next. Oh Gods please don't let me die!'

After what felt like was forever, but in reality was probably only an hour or so, I felt Auron's hands on my waist as he pulled me away from the cliff. Believe me I was holding on tight! I stood there for a moment on shaking legs and caught my breath, not to mention let my fear settle as I leaned against the cliff. A moment later he took my hand and led me through the woods. Again we were stepping over what I would guess was fallen logs, crawling through patches of vines, and sliding down little hills until we came in contact with another cliff.

"Don't tell me we are climbing this."

"We're not climbing it." he says. "We follow it."

"Oh." I said. I guess I sounded a little too relieved because he chuckled. "Hey don't laugh at me."

"I'm not."

"Okay good."

"We better get moving if we want to reach our camp by dawn."

"Camp?" I asked. "What camp?"

"We are camping for the day."

"Camping for the day! Auron we could be at the temple right now if we had of taken the road!"

"Kimahri went ahead into the village today while you were sleeping. There is six checkpoints along the way, all guarded by warrior monks."

"Oh." I say. "Lead the way old wise one."

We follow the side of the cliff until it ends. I think I hear water running near by but I can't be for sure. He takes my hand and leads me a way from where the cliff ends to a large rock. He kneels and begins digging brush out from under the rock.

"This is it."

"Okay." I say. We dig brush out from under the rock until we have a nice little hole dug out. I crawl back in the hole and lay down. Ya know I'm not really fond of sleeping on the bare dirt under a rock, especially when I can feel something squirming beneath my back but, I suppose I have slept in worse places in the last three years. Suddenly I feel something big and warm crawl in beside of me. Then it turns towards me and places a hand on my forehead.

"Get some rest." he says.

"Auron, what will happen if they do find us?"

"Rikku, you know the answer to that."

"Oh." I say, "We'll be executed."

"Yes, a public execution."

"Why are they blaming me for the failure of Yuna's pilgrimage?"

"Because Yevon is in chaos. It needs Spira to believe in it again and what better way to do that then pin a failed pilgrimage on the Al-Bhed. If they can get the people of Spira focused on the Al-Bhed instead of the falsities of Yevon then they have a chance at restoring the old beliefs."

"You mean they want to get everyone focused on how evil we are instead of Seymour killing his father and Mica being unsent?"

"Yes." he says.

"So since Yuna's pilgrimage failed and I was the only Al-Bhed guardian, that made me the perfect scapegoat?"

"Yes." he says. Ya know he used to would have said something like, "Its your story, you must find out for yourself." or something, now he actually tells me these things when I ask him. Maybe traveling with me for four years has made him fond of me, or maybe he thinks I need to know these things. Anyway he's not always in a hurry like he used to be, maybe he has started missing being alive, maybe he's just decided to slow down and take time to smell the flowers, or maybe its just that doing this pilgrimage while being hunted down like those fiends with the ivory tusks requires a slower pace than a normal pilgrimage would. I think it's a little of all three. I close my eyes and let the sounds of the nightlife lull me to sleep.

Sometime later I wake up and crawl out of the little hole. Its daytime and we are in a clearing. A stream runs past us separating us from an area that looks like a jungle. I look around and see Auron sitting propped up against a tree, his hand dangling in the stream, and his eye closed. I stand up and stretch before walking over to him. Ya know during Yuna's pilgrimage I never thought I would see him without his shades or his big red coat, now he doesn't wear them at all. He also insists that I don't wear my cute little orange shirt. Who would've ever thought that he would be telling me how to dress… and getting by with it?

I sit down beside of him and follow the stream up to where it begins. It appears to run around the side of the mountain and down. "Auron?"

"Yes Rikku." he says

"Does that stream come from the falls?"

"Yes it does Rikku." he says. "When Kimahri first brought Yuna here the road wasn't where it is now. It came through here. This was the only way to get past the falls to the village. Then I guess someone built the bridge and this place was forgotten. Weeds and vines grew up over the paths, trees fell, and fiends stopped lingering here. I would guess we're the only people to come through here in years."

"Oh." I say letting it all sink in. "Why would people want to forget a place like this?"

"The roads are much easier to travel than the trails here are." he says looking at me.

"I can't believe I wanted to take the road and miss seeing this." I say, and he chuckles. Then he reaches into his bag and pulls out our rations. We eat in silence and discard the wrappers in a small hole before covering it up. Then Auron takes our water flasks and holds them level in the stream letting them fill up before dropping a small tablet into each flask. I really don't want to know what I would be drinking if it weren't for those tablets. Then he stands, puts the brush back under the rock we slept under, and grabs his bag. I stand and grab my bag, then we leave.

We step across the stream and begin crawling through the vines, climbing over fallen logs, and making our way through the area. After a while of this it seems like there aren't as many vines as there was before, and then there aren't any vines. Auron stops and quickly walks back into a patch of vines. Then he takes out the binoculars that Kimahri bought us a while back and looks through them. After a few minutes he smiles slightly and offers them to me. I look through them and see rolling hills, and then pretty far off in the distance at the top of a hill sits the temple.

"It should be dark within an hour, then we move on." he says. I sit down beside of him and we drink some of our water. After a few minutes the brush rustles behind us. Auron is on his feet in no time watching. After a moment he sighs and sits back down. "It's only Kimahri." After another moment passes the big furry Ronso walks up to us. Kimahri sits down beside of me and pats me on the shoulder with his big furry paw.

"Tonight big night for Lady Rikku. Kimahri got Rikku present."

"Thanks." I say and give the Ronso a bear hug. Sometimes he is so cuddly, like a giant kitten. A while back, while we were stowaways on the S.S. Liki I think he may have gotten a fear of hairbrushes. I mean a Ronso can only take so much of having his fur brushed before his patience snaps, and a Rikku can only take so much boredom before brushing a Ronso's fur sounds like fun.

Kimahri hands me a bag. I take it and open it. Inside I see a dark gray shirt and dark gray pants. Gray has never been my color, its always been too depressing but, at least it has plenty of pockets. I make Kimahri and Auron stay turned away and change into my new gray outfit. I feel depressing in this, but maybe it'll make me harder to see once inside the temple. I fill my new gray pockets full of the goodies from my other outfit and sit down between my guardians again.

After a while it gets dark, and we move on. Kimahri sneaks on ahead of us and we lay low until he gets out of sight. Then we move. We stay close to the ground and walk around the hills until we make it just below the temple. Then Auron lies down flat and begins crawling up the hill. I follow him and soon we are at the top, in the bushes just outside of the wooden fence surrounding the temple. Kimahri sits pointing towards something on the main end of the fence. Auron nods and shakes his head.

"What?" I whisper. Auron points to the thing on the fence and I look but still can't make it out.

"It's a sphere recorder." he whispers in my ear.

"Oh." I whisper. "Do you think they know about our little pilgrimage?"

"Probably."

"So what do we do?"

"Go around it." Auron says. We begin moving through the bushes away from the sphere recorder. After a few minutes we make it to the back of the temple. Auron touches the fence and begins climbing over it. Moments later we sit inside the fence leaning against the temple wall. We slide against the wall to the side of the temple and then up towards the entrance. We make it to the platform just below the entrance and raise up just enough to see one lone warrior monk leaning against the wall reading something.

"Use the sleeping powder." he whispers into my ear. His breath is hot and his cheek feels damp with sweat. I dig into my pocket and find a packet of sleeping powder. One packet would be enough to knock three fiends out for like four hours, surely an entire packet would be enough to knock this one guard out for the rest of the night and for part of tomorrow… at least if things go to hell that'll be one less guard to worry about. I pour the powder out into my hand careful not to inhale any, then I raise up and toss it on the preoccupied guard. I ease myself back down and wait. After a few minutes the guard begins to yawn and then finally snores. We wait a couple more minutes for good measure and then I climb up on the platform, Auron follows and we slide through one of the little columns surrounding the walkway to the entrance. Then we quietly slip inside.

Inside its pitch black. We move back against a wall and slip around towards the stairs. Suddenly Auron stops. One guard stands on the other side of the temple, rifle on his shoulder, comm sphere in hand, looking around carefully. Finally he turns his back to us and steps up to one of the statues. Then he turns around and walks to the door and looks around, and then he walks into one of the priest's rooms, stays in there a moment, comes out, and walks back to where he stood before. After a while of watching him we slide on around the room a little. After a while it becomes a pattern slide, stop, wait, slide, and so on until we are very close to the stairs. We wait until he goes into the priest's room on the opposite side from where we are and then we move to the stairs. We stand against them and wait until he comes back out and goes back to one of the statues before we move around the stairs.

He begins his patrol again and finally walks into the other priest's room. We get on the stairs and quietly but quickly walk up them. Once at the top Auron opens the door leading to the cloister of trials, lucky for us it doesn't even squeak. We go inside and ease the door back together. Then we start making our way through the trials.

It doesn't take us too long to figure out the puzzle. Then a small round lift takes us down. Once at the bottom we get off and walk to the door that leads to the Chamber of Fayth. Auron stops outside of the door and motions for me to go on in. I stand in front of the door, it opens, and I walk through.

Okay, this is kind of creepy. The small hall is dimly lit by the round thing in the center of the room. 'Okay, I can do this. I can do this. Yuna did it, so can I.'. I walk up to the glowing thing and kneel.

"Fayth, um can I call you Valefor? Since I don't know what else to call you. My name is Rikku, I am Al-Bhed, I am Lady Yuna's cousin, I was one of her guardians. I miss her ya know. Erm anyway, Bevelle is claiming that I sabotaged Yuna's pilgrimage. Okay let me get to the point. Ya see I've never done this, I've never prayed, not to Yevon at least and I am not for sure what to say, but Valefor, if it's okay that I call you that, Sir Auron, Kimahri and me are starting a new pilgrimage… that is if you'll help me. So um, Valefor would you help me to defeat Sin for good." I say and suddenly a woman appears.

"Child, you can call me Valefor. I know that you are Al-Bhed, Yuna's cousin, and was one of her guardians. It is alright that you do not believe in Yevon, we Fayth give the summoners power it does not come from Yevon. You do not have to be afraid of us." she says, "You would like to become a summoner?"

"Yes." I say.

"You will be willing to face the trials ahead?"

"Yes."

"Why do you wish to become a summoner?"

"At first I wanted to become a summoner and kill Sin to avenge Yunie and everyone Sin killed. They were some of my best friends. I had spent a few summers with Yunie when I was smaller here on Besaid, but I hadn't really gotten to know her… then when I joined her pilgrimage we kinda made up for lost time, and we became closer than just cousins we were more like best friends maybe even sisters. I met Tidus after Sin brought him here, and we became friends pretty quickly. He was the only non Al-Bhed person I'd ever met then that didn't hate me because I was Al-Bhed. After Sin attacked our ship he went missing and then we met again when I joined the pilgrimage. He was like a big brother to me. Lulu was kind of like a big sister too, I wasn't as close to her as I was to Yunie, but she was like family also. And Wakka after he accepted that I was Al-Bhed he became kind of like a big brother to me. Then we faced Sin and they died." I say as I begin to cry again.

Sometimes I still cry over them. Ya know it hurts knowing that you protected your cousin, and went with your best friends supporting them in the decision that brought their deaths. Sometimes I wonder if they would have died if I hadn't of been with them. I feel two warm arms wrap around me as I cry. I open my eyes and see the Fayth of Valefor holding me and trying her best to comfort me. I'd never thought that a Fayth could be kind of motherly, but she is. I cry a while before finally stopping. Somehow I feel more peaceful than I did before.

"Ya know," I continue, "I still want to avenge my friends, and my family that have been killed by Sin, but there are more reasons now. I want to kill it partly to clear my name, so I won't have to hide from everything anymore. Also if Bevelle keeps blaming the failed pilgrimage on me, eventually everyone in Spira except for the Al-Bhed will hate us, and maybe declare war on the Al-Bhed, we've been through so much just trying to survive here, and I don't know if we could survive a war or not. Maybe if I kill Sin people will stop hating us, or at least some people will. I also want to do it to help Sir Auron keep a promise he made years ago, and I want to do it for everyone on Spira… so they can live without constant fear of Sin."

"Rikku, I will help you. If you are sure that you wish to have the life and death of a summoner."

"Valefor, dying for at least 40 or 50 more years really isn't in my plans. Fiends or something may kill me, but I don't plan on sacrificing one of my friends as the final summoning and then dying the traditional summoner's death. I plan on beating Sin without the final summoning."

"Okay." the Fayth says beginning to smile. "Stand before me."

I stand up and wait. The Fayth comes towards me and somehow merges with me. I feel kinda dizzy and light headed. I turn around slowly and walk back out of the chamber. The door opens for me and I walk through it. Then I wobble down the steps. Auron stands as he sees me coming and walks over to me.

"I did it." I say. He helps me over to the wall and we sit down. "So what's next?"

"Getting out of here."

"So how are we planning on getting out of here?"

"The way we came in." he says.


	3. Chapter 2: Escape from Besaid

Sorry for taking so long to get this out. Things have been kind of hectic around here. I'll try and update quicker next time I promise. And I'd like to thank Gining, losttoxichope, psychostudent06, Drachegirl14, mirrors or illusion, telcontarian, and emObusDriver for reviewing.

Summary: What if Yuna chose the final aeon and Sin wasn't defeated? What if Rikku and the surviving guardians go on a new pilgrimage? What if Bevelle had claimed that Rikku had sabotaged Yuna's pilgrimage and was after her? This is that story. Rated T. Oh it will be Aurikku before the end, so if you don't like, you don't have to read.

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy X.

* * *

Journey of the Hunted 

Chapter 2: Escape from Besaid

* * *

We started making our way back out of the Cloister trials as soon as Auron decided that I had rested enough. We walked through the trials with ease, and made our way to the door leading to the "praying room". We eased the door open a little and peeked out, the Warrior Monk that was there earlier wasn't there now, but there was eight Warrior Monks standing around below the steps. We closed the door and walked away from it. 

"What do we do?" I asked. "Do we wait until night to leave?"

"There will be several Summoner Parties coming up here before tonight."

"I know that, couldn't we wait until a small party comes up, tie them up and take their clothes?"

"No."

"What do we do?" I asked and he didn't answer. "Okay." I said and began twirling my staff. "Open the door."

"Rikku, what… he started but before he could finish I had summoned Valefor. He shoved the door open just in time to see the Warrior Monks ducking as Valefor flew over them. I ran out passed him and jumped on Valefor's back.

"Come on Auron!" I yelled, "Valefor, get us out of here!"

"Rikku!" Auron scolded and he jumped onto the poor Aeon's back and she took off with us. We was through the temple entrance before the first shot was fired. It hit Valefor in her backside and she lunged forward with us causing Auron's face to slap into the back of my head with a thump! Then Valefor began spiraling towards the sky, at this I leaned forwards and wrapped my arms around the Aeon, holding on for dear life. I could feel bullets whizzing past my arms and legs.

Suddenly I heard an "oomph" from behind me and felt Auron fall forward onto my back. I glanced back and saw blood oozing out of his mouth and around from the side of his head. Suddenly another bullet hit Valefor and she lunged forward again.

"Auron?" I asked. He didn't answer. I could feel warm liquid on my upper back, and I kept yelling at him. He never answered. "Valefor, I know you usually don't do these kind of things, but can you somehow let Kimahri know to pick up a lot of potions and let him know where to meet us? Can you take us somewhere where we'll be safe for a day or so?"

"Yes. I'll get your message to Kimahri and take you two to a safe place." she said, in my head.

"Thanks. Hey, you can talk to me! So that's how you communicate with summoners."

"Yes it is. Now if you don't mind I would like to concentrate on my flying."

"Okay." I said and continued hanging on. After what felt like a few minutes of flying towards the sky we stopped going up. I looked down and saw a tiny village below me with what looked like little ants running around. Then came the path leading to the village, and then the ruins. After a few more seconds came the waterfall, and then the path leading to the beach. Finally we were directly over the beach, the little boats at the dock looked like toy boats on a lake. Valefor flew out over the ocean before turning and bringing us back towards the island. She flew in low and barely went high enough with us to go over the cliffs and mountains. After several minutes we were landing in the clearing that we had stayed in the day before coming to the temple. As her feet touched the ground Auron slid off of her back and hit the ground with a soft 'thump'.

I climbed off of her back and stroked her beak just like I had seen Yunie do. She seemed to smile at me. I walked over to Auron before I noticed a couple of wounds in her back and rear. "Uh Valefor you've been hit."

"I know."

"Let me try to cure you."

"Okay." she said tiredly inside my head.

"Aid us." I said and began chanting it over and over silently. After a few seconds a small light surrounded Valefor's wounded area and the wounds began to close.

"Thanks, Rikku. Now I should go back to the Village of the Fayth."

"Um where's that?"

"The Village of the Fayth is where we aeons stay when we're not helping our summoner."

"Oh." I say as I watch her begin flying away. I turn and begin checking Auron. He has two bullets in his back, and a skinned place on the back of his head. I dig around in my pockets until I find a potion and I pour it over the wounds on his back and head. The bullets fall out, and the wounds begin to close. I roll him over onto his side and place my bag under his head. We'll be out in the open here, but its not like I can carry him by myself. So I sit beside him and watch him until he wakes up.

After about three hours he begins to stir, before fully waking up. He sits up and rubs the back of his head before standing. "What happened?"

I tell him. After I finish we sit there in silence for a while before he finally speaks. "Once Kimahri arrives we should start making our way to the docks." That's the Auron I know! Always in a hurry, but then again I can see why he was shot three times on this island, and there is probably forty or fifty warrior monks out looking for us right now… hey that's enough to make me want to hurry and get off this island.

After a while Kimahri makes it to us. He hands me a satchel of potions, and checks on Auron. Then we leave. We walk the same way we came to get to the clearing and after a while make it to the huge cliff that we climbed down. Ya know climbing up it during the daylight hours doesn't seem so bad. It takes us a while but once we are up it we move on.

Its dark by the time we reach the road that leads to the beach. We sneak along beside of the road until we reach the warrior monks' first check point. Auron points at my bag and I pull out another packet of sleeping powder. I blow it into the air towards the guards. After a few minutes they fall asleep and we sneak passed them. After two more checkpoints of using sleeping powder we make it out onto the beach… but the S.S. Liki is no where to be seen. There is two small fishing boats docked for the night, but that's all. "What now?"

Auron stands there looking like he's ready to blow his top, then he stalks off towards some of the piled up supplies beside of the dock. I glance over at Kimahri who looks like he's in deep thought. "Um Kimahri can you drive a boat?"

"Kimahri can drive anything."

"Okay." I say as I run after Auron. I grab him by the arm and begin trying to pull him towards one of the small boats. "Come on ya big meanie!"

"Humph!"

Fifteen minutes later the boat was beginning to sail away from the island with us on board. I walk over and stand watching as the small lights from the island get smaller and smaller finally they get so small that I can't see them at all. I walk over to where Auron is sitting at and flop down beside of him.

"Auron?"

"What is it Rikku?" he says more grumpily than I was expecting.

"Um, you're not mad are you?"

"No Rikku I'm not mad. Why would I be mad?"

"Um…

"We stole a boat Rikku."

"So, what? I'm a thief. Auron, thieves steal things."

"I know." he says, "You do realize that by stealing this boat we will have the Bevellian Navy after us now?"

"So what? We already had the warrior monks after us, so what's it going to hurt to have the Bevellian Navy after us also?" I say. He looks at me and shakes his head before walking away. After a while I go down into the area below the deck and find a small room with a bed to sleep on and I go to sleep.

After three long uneventful days, Auron begins making me practice my attack magic spells. The only black magic spells I know right now are fire, water, thunder, and blizzard. After a few hours I am running low on my mana energy and Auron decides I've had enough for one day. The rest of the day passes uneventful. I think he's still mad.

That night I am dog tired when I go to bed. I lie down and fall asleep quickly.

* * *

_I'm sitting at a table in the dining area of one of Rin's travel agency eating a slice of pizza when Tidus walks up to me. He sits down across from me and picks up a slice of pizza. We eat our pizza before Tidus looks at me and grins. _

"_So you and Auron are on a new pilgrimage?"_

"_Yep, we're going to beat you."_

"_Thanks. Rikku, Yu Yevon has done things to me… he's made me do things… terrible things. Rikku I can't stop him."_

"_I know Tidus. We'll help you."_

"_Rikku, please hurry. I've become the very thing that Yuna was trying to destroy. I'm beginning to despise myself Rikku, I've taken too many lives."_

"_Tidus, you're one of my best friends. I'll free you as quick as I can."_

"_Thanks Rikku. Tell Auron that I say hi."_

"_I will." I say as I drink some of the hot chocolate sitting before me. _

"_Rikku I need to show you something." he says. _

"_Okay." I say looking at him. "What do I do?"_

"_Just watch the pyreflies." he says as several pyreflies drift up from somewhere. I watch as they form an image of Luca, and then an image of Sin attacking Luca. I see people running and screaming, children crying, mothers holding their young and running. I see people dying. Then the image fades. "Save them."_

* * *

I wake up in a cold sweat, my heart racing, and my head feels like someone has just hammered it with an iron skillet. I raise up and turn the flash light on before looking around. Nothing is there, nothing to hurt me at least. I turn out the light and lie back down. I try to go back to sleep but I keep getting this awful feeling in my gut. I turn over and close my eyes, I see the image of Luca, from my dream. _The blitzball tournament is in a little over a week! He's trying to warn me! _I jump up and run out looking for Auron. I find him in another cabin asleep. 

"Auron! Auron wake up!" I yell.

"What?" he asks sleepily, as he rolls over to face me.

"Luca! Sin is going to Luca! Auron we have to do something."

"Huh?"

"Auron the blitzball tournament its next week! Auron Tidus told me that Jecht liked the Hymn and didn't Sin kinda show up whenever the Hymn was song?"

"Yes."

"Auron Tidus loves blitzball, and Sin is going to Luca!"

"What happened Rikku?" he asks. I tell him about the dream, and about how I can't get the image of Luca being attacked out of my mind. He sits and listens, as I tell him, and then I start to cry.

"Auron we have to do something." I say through tears. Imagine knowing that you might could help stop something from killing a million people, if you can get there. That's how I feel. Finally after a while I realize two big arms are wrapped around me, holding me. I cry for a while before drying my eyes on his shirt.

"Rikku, I'll go tell Kimahri to set our course for Luca." he says and walks off. A few minutes later he returns and sits down on the bed.

"Auron, can I stay in here a while?"

"Yes." he says as he lays his hand on my arm. I lean back against his chest and he wraps his arm around me.

"Auron, what would Yuna do now?"

"I don't know."

"Auron are we doing the right thing?"

"Rikku, I suppose we are. Whether we make it in time or not, they will need a summoner."

"I miss Yunie and Tidus." I say as I begin to cry again. He pulls me down into the bed beside of him and lets me cry into his shirt. _What if we don't make it to Luca in time? What if Sin destroys it before we get there? What if us going there only delays the pilgrimage and gives Sin more time to kill more people? What if I'm not strong enough to do all the duties of a summoner? What if we fail?_


	4. Chapter 3: Seafaring

I don't think I've ever been as cold in my life as I was the other night. I work as a security guard (night watch person) for this company that does the security for local coal mines… well usually I am stationed at this coal mine that has a guard shack (with heat and everything), the other night though there was kind of an emergency at another location and I was sent to the other location where there is no guard shack. Basically I sit in my car all night, without heat, and I didn't dress very warm. (If I had of let the car idle for the heat I would have been out of fuel before morning.)

Summary: What if Yuna chose the final aeon and Sin wasn't defeated? What if Rikku and the surviving guardians go on a new pilgrimage? What if Bevelle had claimed that Rikku had sabotaged Yuna's pilgrimage and was after her? This is that story. Rated T. Oh it will be Aurikku before the end, so if you don't like, you don't have to read. Characters may be out OOC.

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy X.

* * *

Journey of the Hunted

Chapter 3: Seafaring

* * *

The next morning I awoke when a huge wave of water came crashing down on me. I was out of that bed and looking around for water fiends in less than a second, there wasn't any, just a smug looking Auron and Kimahri.

"Auron!" I yelled pointing my finger at him. I was ready to cast the strongest black magic spell that I knew at him. "You, you jerk!"

"Breakfast has been ready for three hours. First you'll eat, then we'll work on you learning Fira." Auron says before walking out.

"Hey you! Don't I even get a shower?"

"I think you've already had one." Auron says chancing a quick glance back in at me.

"Auron! I'll, I'll show you Fira!" I say running out of the room to catch up with him. "You! You big meanie! Slow down! Auron!" Finally I catch up with him in our small dining area. He's sitting there watching me with a grin on his face. "Auron at least let me get into some dry clothes!"

"What dry clothes?"

"Huh?"

"Rikku what did we bring with us on this boat?"

"Oh." I say realizing that in my rush to get off of Besaid I forgot to get most of our supplies from the cave. I sit down beside of him and start eating from the plate that is in front of me. "Maybe I could have Valefor get our supplies for us and bring them here?"

"Maybe." Auron says as he starts to leave. "I'll be on deck whenever you're ready."

"Duh where else would you be, meanie!" I shout after him. If it's the last thing I do I will get him back for casting a water spell on me while I was asleep! I eat quickly and then head up to the deck. Auron's standing there, leaning on his sword as usual.

"You finally decide to join me?" he asks sounding more than a little annoyed.

"What did I do now?"

"Let's get started." he says. After several hours of trying to cast a Fira spell and only managing to cast Fire spells I stop and lean against the railing. "Come on Rikku! Cast!"

"Give me a break Auron, I've been at it for three hours!"

"Rikku you can do it! Concentrate!" he commands.

"Okay." I say and keep trying.

After two days I still haven't managed to cast one. The third morning I lock myself in my bedroom hoping that Auron will leave me alone. He knocks several times that day but I ignore him. The day passes slowly. That night I sneak out of my room and find something to eat. Then I sneak up to the deck where I see Auron and Kimahri talking.

"Kimahri believes in Rikku. Sir Auron should too."

"I have believed in her. I would continue to believe in her if she would try. She gave up Kimahri."

"Kimahri think Rikku needs time." Kimahri says before leaving Auron alone. I sneak back to my room. _He don't believe in me, hell I don't even believe in me now. _I wait until I hear the door to Auron's room close and then I sneak back to the deck and find Kimahri.

"Rikku?" Kimahri says as I walk up to him.

"Hey." I say as I grab his paw.

"What's wrong with Rikku?" he asks

"Nothing." I say as I sit down. "Kimahri can everyone that tries to be a mage, be a mage?"

"Yes."

"Why can't I?"

"Rikku needs to try."

"I know Kimahri. I've tried to learn Fira for days." I say as I begin to cry again. "Kimahri, I can't do it."

"Rikku can do anything Rikku tries to do. Rikku just needs to concentrate." he says and puts his big furry paw on my shoulder. "Rikku can talk to Kimahri."

"Kimahri, we're going to Luca right?"

"Yes."

"Did Auron tell you why?"

"Yes."

"Kimahri, I know we could go on to Kilika and get the next aeon and then go to Luca, if we did that we could fight Sin sooner, but if we could make it to Luca before Sin gets there we could maybe help fight it off, and save a lot of people right?"

"Yes."

"What if Sin doesn't even go to Luca? What if I'm wrong?"

"Rikku shouldn't doubt herself."

"I know, but what if we go to Luca and nothing is wrong, and what if going to Luca just postpones the pilgrimage and Sin kills more people because of my stupid dream?"

"If going to Luca only postpones the pilgrimage at least Rikku tried to do the right thing."

"Thanks." I say and hug him. I pet him on the head before I leave. _Did he just purr? _I walk out to the part of the deck we practice on and sit down. _Kimahri is right. I can do anything I try to do, all I have to do is try my hardest. Like Pops used to say 'If the Chocobo throws you, get back on and try again!'. And even if going to Luca does result in us loosing time we're still going because there is a chance that Sin is going to Luca. If it does go to Luca we may can save a lot of lives. If it does go to Luca we CAN save a lot of lives. I have to remember we CAN do it! _I stand up and begin trying to cast a Fire spell, a fire spell shoots out over the water and dies. I stare out and think of fire, and then I think of a lot of fire. "Need a light?"

A huge blaze shoots out over the water and dies. I think of a lot of fire again, "Need a light?" Another huge blaze shoots out over the water. _Oh hell yeah! _I cast Fira several more times before stopping. _I bet if I learned Thundara tonight also Auron would be really pleased. _I concentrate on Thunder and cast a small Thunder spell first. It still gives me the willies but I'll get over that, sooner or later. I concentrate on casting a Thundera and after a few seconds several bolts of lightening comes out of the sky. "Don't look so shocked!"

A couple of hours later I have learned all of the medium level black magic spells and Cura. I run downstairs and knock on Auron's bedroom door until he opens it and I throw myself at him. He stumbles back before catching his balance.

"What's wrong?"

"Auron! Auron! Guess what! I just learned Fira, Thundara, Watera, Blizzara, and Cura!"

"That's good." he says trying to pry me off of him.

"Auron, come on let me show you!" I shout as I grab his arm and drag him out of his room. He follows reluctantly. Once on the deck I dig in my pouch for an Ether. "Uh Auron we only have 35 Ethers left."

"We'll find more." he says sitting down. Kimahri walks over to him and sits down. I cast each spell for him, and receive an applause after the final one.

"Rikku's Magic Show is copyright to Rikku the Great!" I say and bow, "Anyone want an encore?"

"I'm fine. Good job, Rikku." Auron says before walking off with Kimahri. _Huh! Where are they going? Men! _As tempted as I am to follow them I don't, instead I sit down and look up at the stairs. Its very pretty tonight. I lean back until I feel someone sit down beside of me. I look over and see Auron sitting there looking at the sky. "Tonight's a good night to be on the water."

"Yeah."

"Very pretty isn't it?" he asks

"Sure is." I say

"Kimahri says you were feeling down?" he asks

"Yeah." I say

"You can tell me about it." he says

"I had tried and tried to cast Fira Auron, after trying and failing so much, I began to doubt myself. I didn't believe I could do it. Auron, I didn't think anyone believed in me. Then I overheard you and Kimahri talking…

"Rikku… I, I do believe in you. I would not have become your guardian if I didn't. What I told Kimahri isn't true. Rikku, sometimes you can be… the most annoying person on Spira, but Rikku you are one of the most determined people I've ever known. Rikku I was frustrated at you when I was talking to Kimahri." he says

"Auron, sometimes I wonder if I'm strong enough to be a summoner. Sometimes I wonder how the Fayth will react to me being Al-Bhed. I know Valefor didn't care, but what if one of them cares?"

"Rikku, do you want to defeat Sin?"

"Yes."

"That is all that matters for one to be a summoner. The Fayth, even if there is any prejudiced against the Al-Bhed, should accept you for that. Rikku, you can do this."

"Thanks Auron." I say as I lean my head over on his shoulder.

"Rikku, what are you doing?"

"I'm using you as a pillow." I say.

"Alright."

"Auron, does Bevelle really have a Navy?"

"Yes."

"Tell me about the Bevellian Navy."

"Okay. The Bevellian Navy was created a thousand years ago, when many of Spira's youngsters started disappearing at sea and becoming pirates. When I was a Warrior Monk, the Bevellian Navy had a fleet of over a thousand war ships…

"A thousand?"

"Yes."

"Whoa!" I say and Auron chuckles. "Auron why doesn't many people know about it?"

"Rikku, Bevelle has many secrets."

"I know but what's the big deal about everyone finding out about their Navy?"

"Rikku, what would people want Bevelle to have their Navy doing if people knew?"

"Protecting them from Sin?"

"Yes."

"So why doesn't Bevelle have their navy to protect people from Sin? Isn't protecting people from Sin more important than hunting down Pirates?"

"It should be. Bevelle doesn't care about the people as much as they lead everyone to believe…

"Duh!"

"Bevelle has many secrets that have been lost by ships at sea over the years. If pirates were to find these secrets then that would be it for Yevon."

"Oh." I say. "Are there still pirates?"

"Yes."

"Auron, are we pirates?"

"Yes, you can say we are pirates."

"Aye! Bevelle can kiss me little arse!"

"What?"

"Dasn't ye get 't ya big meanie?"

"Rikku!"

"Oh okay I'll stop!" I say, "You said we are pirates so… I was just trying to talk like a pirate."

"I've noticed."

"Auron every time I try to have fun you scold me."

"I'm sorry. Go talk like a pirate to Kimahri."

"But your shoulder is too comfortable." I say and close my eyes. "Why can't I talk like a pirate to you?"

"Rikku?"

"Yes."

"Go to sleep."

"Okay. You are a party pooper." I say. After a few minutes I feel an arm go around me. He's not so bad once you get to know him. When you first meet him he can seem cold, distant, and even scary, but after three years I kind of know him. There is still a lot of stuff that I don't know about him, but I'm learning more as I go. I know he's been through a lot, more than most people could probably take, I guess that's why I'm always trying to make him laugh. If you think him loosing his best friends, being killed, and then seeing his best friends children killed by the same thing that killed his best friends is bad, then you haven't heard what he went through to become a Warrior Monk.

* * *

_Last year we were stowaways in the back of wagon that was hauling goods from Macalania to Quadosalem. It took the wagons three months to get through the Thunderplains, sometimes the wagons would stop and camp somewhere. After everyone was asleep we would sneak away and fight fiends. Once after we had got back in the wagons I asked Auron about his Warrior Monk training. _

"_Auron, what was it like to become a Warrior Monk?" I asked him. At first he didn't answer. "Auron you can tell me."_

"_Rikku, they send 40 men to this island miles from Bevelle. Once there I was shown a room full of beds. We were instructed to keep our barracks extremely clean. Everyday we were awoken early, we had to eat breakfast, and then if we had time to shower we could. After that we would clean our barracks for inspection, if we passed inspection we could go for our morning run."_

"_What happened if you didn't pass?"_

"_We were made to move everything out of the room in ten minutes."_

"_Did you ever have to do that?"_

"_Yes. A man from Macalania left his locker door open, and we were made to do that."_

"_What would happen if you couldn't do it?"_

"_We would have to carry everything back in, and try again." _

"_Oh. Did you ever get it done?"_

"_No, the few times we had to do it, after hours of moving the furniture the one who had made the mistake would call our superiors out. They would put him in lock up for 24 hours while he would decided whether he wanted to continue training or not."_

"_Did you ever get put in lock up?"_

"_Yes."_

"_What was it like?"_

"_The cell was small, and the floor was cold. There was no beds, and every hour someone would come in and pour water over the floor. When they would let you out of lock up for a few minutes if you were in for over 24 hours, you would have to run circles around your escort. Sometimes your escort would make you march like a duck, while quacking like a duck. While in lock up you didn't eat."_

"_Okay. Did you ever have to march like a duck?"_

"_Rikku!" _

"_Okay. Sorry. What else?"_

"_At the end of every week while in training we had to do a march while carrying sandbags. At the end of week one it was ten miles and 40 pounds, week two 40 miles and 60 pounds, week three 60 miles and 90 pounds…_

"_Okay. How long did it take you all to do these marches?"_

"_The marches was not timed. We marched at 88 paces a minute."_

"_That's kinda slow isn't it? I mean the Al-Bhed's military march is like 120 paces a minute."_

"_Yes its slow." _

"_Auron…_

"_Someone's coming." he says and covers my mouth. We crawled under the bags of goods and waited until whoever it was that came to check the goods left. After that Auron decided I had heard enough about that and talked me into going to sleep._

* * *

"Auron, you never did finish telling me about your Warrior Monk training."

"I know." he says, "Now is not the time. Rikku you better try and get some sleep."

"Okay." I say and get up to go to my room.

"Sir Auron, Rikku come quick!" Kimahri suddenly shouts as I make it to my room. I turn around and race back up to the deck when suddenly the boat is hit by something causing it to rock violently. I am thrown against the wall and I fall down the steps. _What's happening? _


	5. Chapter 4: Trouble at Sea

I thought since I didn't have anything else to do at the moment, why not update this? So here it is. Oh and this is kind of a short chapter.

Summary: What if Yuna chose the final aeon and Sin wasn't defeated? What if Rikku and the surviving guardians go on a new pilgrimage? What if Bevelle had claimed that Rikku had sabotaged Yuna's pilgrimage and was after her? This is that story. Rated T. Oh it will be Aurikku before the end, so if you don't like, you don't have to read. Characters may be OOC.

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy X.

* * *

Journey of the Hunted

Chapter 4: Trouble at Sea

* * *

I raced up the steps and onto the deck, I could smell wood smoke very strongly. I looked around and saw fires from several ships that were probably fifty feet away and getting closer.

"Rikku cast Fira on them! Kimahri keep extinguishing the fires! Rikku give Kimahri some of your Ethers!" Auron yells out as he stands watching the ships approach. I toss my pouch to Kimahri and begin casting the Firas. I hit the ship that's closest to us, and the flame dies. I try another and another, each Fira I cast hit's the ship but doesn't do any damage. "Rikku aim for the sails! Kimahri hand me the Ethers!" I concentrate on hitting the first ship's sail and cast a Fira.

The sail bursts into flames, the fire spreads quickly on it and down the pole, then the pole falls on the ship. I cast another Fira at the next ship's sail, it hits and burns the sail. The first two ships seem to have slowed down a bit. "Rikku get down! Kimahri try and hit the oncoming arrows with a wateraga spell! Have an Ether Rikku! When I say now begin casting again!" I look up as probably a hundred flaming arrows come flying towards us. Suddenly a huge wave of water crashes into the arrows extinguishing the flames and knocking most of them down. "NOW RIKKU!" I concentrate on another Fira spell and hit another sail, then another spell, and another, and another until my mana energy is low.

"Auron I need an Ether!" I yell. Another group of flaming arrows is coming towards us.

"Get down Rikku! Kimahri, wateraga!" Auron yells. I duck and wait. "NOW RIKKU!"

"Ether please!"

"Okay." Auron says throwing one at me. I notice the first ships are within twenty five feet of us now.

"Auron, the ships are too wet! My Fira spells aren't doing enough damage!" I yells, "Maybe a Thundara spell would work better!"

"Try it!"

"Okay." I yell and concentrate on a Thundara. It hit's the ship and several people scream from on the ship.

"Rikku do that!" Auron yells. I cast another Thundara and another. "Rikku down now! Kimahri wateraga!" I duck and watch. Another group of flaming arrows come towards us. A wave of water hits them, and they are extinguished. Then I see one lucky arrow coming straight at me. A flash of red appears in front of me. "UMPH" He falls, and jerks the arrow from his arm. I cast Cura. He gets back up.

Auron motions Kimahri and me back. I watch in amazement as he spins with his sword. Wind picks up from his sword and travels towards the ships. The water becomes rough as it goes, and our ship rocks out of control. The wind feeds off of the water and becomes stronger until it's a huge Tornado! It collides with the first ship tearing it to pieces, then it picks up the second ship! Auron tosses the jug at his side up into the winds and it explodes sending pieces of wood flying in all directions, amazingly none of them hit us.

Suddenly something big and on fire hits our boat. The boat tilts dangerously to the left and Auron grabs my arm. "They have an Onager! Rikku can you do a mix?"

"Yeah!" I say and get to work. _Maybe I should make a fire storm, or better yet a Cluster Bomb! _I mix the required items together and hurl it at the ships. The bomb blows one ship into smithereens! Suddenly another of the… fire bombs hit our boat.

"We're sinking! Kimahri protect on the boat! Rikku summon Valefor!" Auron yells as another fire bomb hits our small boat. I summon the aeon.

"Valefor, Sonic Wings… please." I say. The aeon Sonic Wings the ships, hitting them over and over. Suddenly a fire bomb crashes into Valefor and she fades into Pyreflies. "Damn! Now what?"

"Thundara!" Auron yells. I cast, and then another fire bomb hits our boat. "Rikku you can fix things right?

"Yes."

"Rikku go down into the cabins and see if you can repair the boat."

"Okay."

"Kimahri Thundaga!" I race back down the steps into the hall with our rooms. Water is knee deep down here. I push my way through the water until I find the source. There is a large hole in one of the walls and water is steadily pouring through. I rush back to the steps.

"Auron! I need your help!" I yell. I rush into the room where we eat at and I grab the table. Auron comes in quickly and picks up the table. He follows me carrying the table. I point at the hole and Auron tries to cover it with the table, but the water pressure is to much.

"Rikku, grab whatever you need and come back to the deck!" he yells as he drops the table and runs back up. I have the only things I brought with me in my pouches so I follow him. "Kimahri turn this boat around and head straight for the last ship!" Kimahri stops casting and runs to the boat's wheel and begins working. "Rikku cast Thundara!" I cast, and cast, and cast until I am low on mana energy.

"Ether please!" Auron throws an Ether at me and I begin casting again. Suddenly another fire bomb hits us, and one end of the boat sinks lower than the rest. "Damn!" I cast again, and again. Another fire bomb hits us and the ship rocks too far to one side. Auron grabs my arm. "Hold on Kimahri!"

"Kimahri hanging on!" he yells back. I look back and see him clinging to the floor with all four paws like a giant cat. I cast Thundara again and again until I can't cast anymore. Suddenly Auron lets go of my arm and jumps over the railing. I grab the railing and watch as he grabs the railing of the ship and pulls himself up. Then he turns and motions for me to follow him. I climb up on the railing and push myself off. Then I'm falling. Two arms catch me and pulls me over the railing. Then Kimahri leaps onto the ship.

"Was that the Bevellian Navy?"

"Yes, I believe it was." Auron says

After a moment we begin searching the ship. Auron walks in front with his sword ready, Kimahri walks beside of him, and I walk behind them. No one is alive on the deck and we move on to search the area downstairs.

Suddenly as we step off of the last step several men come running down towards us. Auron pulls me back behind him and begins taking them out with his sword as they get close to him. Suddenly more men from downstairs come running at us. Kimahri pushes me behind him and begins fighting them off with his spear. I strap my claw on and help Kimahri.

After several minutes none of them are left standing. We finish searching the ship finding only bodies and Pyreflies. We walk back to the deck and I ease myself to the floor. Its almost like I can feel their spirits floating around me. Auron approaches me and reaches out his hand. I stand and look at him.

"Rikku, you should send them." he says, "We've already had enough trouble, we don't need fiends."

"Okay." I say. I walk away from Auron and begin the dance. Auron clutches his chest and I stop. "You want me to stop?"

"No." he says. I begin the dance again. Suddenly I can feel the spirits of the dead rising out of the ocean and off of the ship and coming towards me. Then they begin grabbing at me, pulling my hair, tearing at me, and finally several of them has their hands locked around my arms, my neck, my legs. I continue to dance as they hang on. I look at Auron and he's on one knee, holding to his chest.

"You won't fade away will you?" I ask as I begin to cry.

"No."

"Okay." I say and keep on dancing. The Pyreflies turn into an almost water-ish substance and lifts me into the air. I continue to dance.

"Why did I die?" one of the spirits asks.

"Don't make me leave."

"Now my family will starve. My children will grow up without a father. I shouldn't be dead."

"Why did you kill us?"

"Leave us alone." one says. Each one speaks to me, kinda the same way the Fayth speaks to me.

"I didn't kill you, Yevon did. You attacked us because of what Yevon says. None of you should be dead, but you are, and this world was meant for the living. You have to go." I say. They tear at me, their emotions encircling me, but I force myself to continue the dance. Suddenly I can see their memories, of their homes, their families, their friends. I try to ignore the memories but they keep forcing their way into my mind. "None of you can stay here."

"We don't want to go." one of them wails. More of them float up taking me higher into air. I force back the tears and continue dancing.

"Please lady, don't make us go." one with the voice like a child says.

"I have to. You, you can't stay." I say. I continue to dance as they gently sit me back down. Then the Pyreflies begin fading away. Moments later the last one fades, and I sink to the floor. I feel two arms wrap around me. I look up at Auron and begin to cry. "They didn't want to go."

"None of them do." he says as he kneels beside of me letting me cry into his shirt. "Good job."

I don't know how long we sit like that before I fell asleep. The next morning I woke up in the same spot, with Auron letting me use him as a pillow. I stand up and stretch before walking over and looking out at the ocean. The remnants of our battle are no where in sight and the waters are calm. If I didn't know that the battle happened I wouldn't be able to tell that it had.

After performing my first sending somehow I feel different. I can still hear their voices, and feel them grabbing at me although they are gone. _I wonder how Yunie was able to stand doing a lot of sendings? _I force their voices and memories away from me and begin looking for the kitchen of the ship.

Days have passed since my first sending, and I can still feel them around me. I know they are gone, but I can't forget it… I can't forget them. Kimahri says we should be at Luca before noon today, hopefully we won't be too late. Auron has been making me practice using magic more and more, but today he says I can rest. I sit on the front of the ship and watch him practice with his sword until he stops and then I look out at the ocean. _I could get used to living on the ocean if its like this. _

"Rikku, Sir Auron! Kimahri see land!" he yells. I run to where he's standing and look out. I see Luca and the big fish thing, Sin in the distance. Sin is attacking Luca. _We have to hurry!_


	6. Chapter 5: Battle with Sin

I'll try and get another update out in a week or two.

Summary: What if Yuna chose the final aeon and Sin wasn't defeated? What if Rikku and the surviving guardians go on a new pilgrimage? What if Bevelle had claimed that Rikku had sabotaged Yuna's pilgrimage and was after her? This is that story. Rated T. Oh it will be Aurikku before the end, so if you don't like, you don't have to read. Characters may be OOC.

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy X.

* * *

Journey of the Hunted 

Chapter 5: Battle with Sin

* * *

Sin was attacking Luca! As we got closer I could see Sinspawn falling off its back and going into Luca. People were panicking just like in my dream. 

"Kimahri speed up! Head straight towards it!" Auron yelled.

"Auron what…

"There's no time to explain." he yells, "Follow me!" I follow him to this big catapult looking thing. "Rikku make two of your most powerful mixes!"

"Okay." I say and dig in my pouch. I mix a Potato Masher and a Cluster Bomb. Auron has put a small rock on the catapult looking thing.

"Attach one of the mixes to the rock." he says. I stick the mix to the rock and Auron pulls a lever. The rock goes flying through the air crashing into Sin's back and BANG! Auron loads another rock on the catapult, and I stick my second mix on the rock. Auron pulls the lever and the rock flies through the air and smashes into Sin's back. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! "Make another mix Rikku!"

I mix another Potato Masher and stick it to the rock on the catapult. Auron pulls the lever and the rock hits Sin's back. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

"Want me to make another mix?"

"No. Hold on!" Auron yells as he grabs my arm. Seconds later we're crashing into Sin. The impact knocks me forward almost causing me to fall over the railing. As soon as I get my balance I move closer to Sin. It looks like the front of our ship has pierced Sin's armor. A couple of Sinspawn fall off onto our ship and we begin killing them. As we kill one another one takes it place. "They just keep coming! Kimahri flare, Rikku mix! I'll keep the Sinspawn off of you!"

I mix a Burning Soul and throw it at Sin, it hits. Kimahri flares. I search in my pack and mix a Fire Storm. Kimahri flares.

"Auron, we're running low on items!"

"Cast on it!" he shouts as he slashes through another Sinspawn. I cast Thundara, then I cast it again, and again. Suddenly Sin hits us with some kind of water attack before diving under the water. The water attack throws me into the ocean.

The water seems to be pulling me farther down. I struggle to reach the surface. Suddenly something wraps around my ankle. I look down and see a Sinspawn trying to pull me down. I slash down with my claw. It shoots something at me. I dodge a little too late and a spike hits my shoulder. OUCH! I slash at it again, killing it. Then I swim towards the surface.

Now that I don't have a Sinspawn trying to pull me down, and the water has settled it doesn't take too long to reach the surface. I surface and look around. I don't see our ship anywhere, and I don't see Auron or Kimahri anywhere.

"Auron! Kimahri!" I yell as I dive under once more looking for them. I go as deep as I can stand before stopping and looking for them, I don't see them anywhere. Finally I return to the surface and swim to Luca. As I approach the dock I see a crowd of people watching me. I swim up to them and they help me out of the water.

"Are you alright?"

"You saved us!"

"Thank Yevon you came along."

"Sin could have killed us."

"Can I get you anything?"

Everyone of them tries to talk at once, asking me questions, telling me their stories, telling me what happened before we got here, but the only thing I can think about is where Auron and Kimahri could be. _Not Auron and Kimahri too. First Yunie and Tidus, Lulu and Wakka, and now Auron and Kimahri too. They can't be dead. _I push my way through the crowd squeezing between people, who are all asking questions. Finally I see a soaked Ronso standing off to himself.

I walk over to him and hug him. "Are you alright?"

"Kimahri fine. Kimahri don't like water." he says shaking the water from his fur and splattering several people standing near by.

"Kimahri have you seen Auron?"

"Rikku…

"Auron, are you alright?"

"Yes." Auron says as he wrings the water from his shirt. "Rikku, they will need a summoner to perform a sending…

"I know." I say as I turn towards everyone. I walk towards this elderly lady in the crowd. "I am a summoner."

"Lady Summoner would you perform the sending for us?"

"Yes." I say and begin walking out in front of everyone. I have never really liked doing anything in front of large crowds ya know, but sometimes I guess its necessary. I pick up a staff that was lying near a wounded man and begin the dance. Ya know I thought I would be more prepared for it the second time around, but I guess I wasn't. As I danced I could feel all the lost souls gathering around me, grabbing at me, clawing at me, and some of them were even biting at me. I danced anyway.

"Don't make me go."

"I want to stay."

"My family needs me."

"I was too young to die."

"I shouldn't be dead, I just wanted to save my children."

"Please Lady Summoner we tried to protect our families, don't make us leave."

"There was so much I wanted to do while living, now I can't do any of it."

"I have so many regrets."

"Don't make me leave my mommy."

"My son is only four, he needs me."

"Let us stay."

"Please Lady Summoner, leave us be."

"YOU ARE A TRAITOR, YOU KILLED YUNA! Now you are making us leave."

"You killed Yuna."

"You caused Yuna to die."

"My parents were killed in Operation Mi'hen, I was left to take care of my baby brother, I'm all he has left… Please Lady Summoner don't make me go."

As I danced their voices continued, each voice breaking my heart with it's story or almost scaring me into wanting to stop dancing. I didn't talk, I didn't even think, I just danced. I don't know how long it lasted. Some time later, it was over and I was on my knees sitting on the dock when Auron walked over and helped me up. "Good job."

I didn't feel like I had done anything that was good or right, but everyone else seemed to think so… at least until several Warrior Monks came running towards us. We backed up to the edge of the dock looking for an escape route but there wasn't one the Warrior Monks had us cornered.

"Rikku of the Al-Bhed, we are under orders from Bevelle to arrest you for sabotaging Lady Yuna's pilgrimage, and two counts of piracy." One of them said. I stood back shaking my head and grabbed Auron's arm. He pulled his sword and waited. Kimahri got on the other side of me and pointed his spear at them. I made sure my claw was still on right and looked at them. "We can either take you back peacefully, or we can do this the hard way… really its your choice."

"I always preferred the hard way."

"Bevelle wants you dead or alive… either way we will be taking you to Bevelle."

"I don't think so." Auron says as he darts forward. "Rikku, run!" He takes out the Warrior Monks directly in front of us and we make a break for it, Kimahri behind me, and Auron in front. We run through the crowd, into the streets of Luca, and passed the blitzball stadium. I've never ran so fast in my life. After some time of running Auron runs towards a dock. We run for the first ship we see and get on it. No one else is on board.

Kimahri starts driving the ship away from the docks, and as we are maybe 10 feet away the Warrior Monks make it to the edge of the dock. I look at them and wave.

"Make that three counts of piracy!" I yell. Auron chuckles, and the ship speeds up. The Warrior Monks stand there firing at us until we are too far away for the bullets to hit the ship. Its been a long day, and Auron is going to let me wait until tomorrow to practice my magic.

I sit down on the deck and watch as the clouds go by. One cloud looks like Auron! After a while I fall asleep. I wake up and its dark. Auron is leaning against the wall above me.

"What is it?" I ask as I get up.

"Kimahri thought you would want to sleep in an actual bed." he says.

"Okay." I say as I look up at him. "Auron?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think we could have saved more people if Yuna had of been the summoner?"

"I don't know. We did everything we could." he says.

"Yuna would have had more aeons and…

"Rikku, you shouldn't compare yourself to your cousin. She did the duty of a summoner, but like the past thousands of summoners she chose her fate. She chose tradition over life. Rikku what do you believe?"

"I believe we will find a way to defeat Sin for good."

"Rikku, you have already surpassed Yuna as a summoner."

The next morning we are heading for Kilika. Kimahri says it'll take us about twelve days to get there. I don't know what will happen in the next twelve days, but I do know we saved a few lives at Luca. I guess if you can save a few lives by doing something its better than doing nothing.

Auron has had me practicing magic all day. I think I finally may be getting the hang of being a black mage. Eventually he says we'll practice summoning. I wonder how Valefor will feel about being called during practice. Sometimes I am tempted to call her anyway, just to talk. There's some things that I don't really feel like talking about to a man or men… even if one of them is a Ronso.

The days seem longer now. Maybe its were we are on the ocean and there's not too much excitement… except for when Auron finds something missing out of his pockets. Sometimes I just like to look out at the ocean and wonder how could something so peaceful hide something like Sin… but then again you never know what lies beneath the surface.


	7. Chapter 6: The Closer We Get

A/N: First, I would like to apologize for not updating for so long. I would give excuses but you probably aren't interested in hearing them. This chapter has been redone, for the better I hope. Also thanks to anyone who has been following it so far.

Summary: What if Yuna chose the final aeon and Sin wasn't defeated? What if Rikku and the surviving guardians go on a new pilgrimage? What if Bevelle had claimed that Rikku had sabotaged Yuna's pilgrimage and was after her? This is that story. Rated T. Oh it will be Aurikku before the end, so if you don't like, you don't have to read. Characters may be OOC.

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy X.

Journey of the Hunted

Chapter 6: The Closer We Get

It has been three days since we left Luca and the weather is nice, everything is calm, and I am in a great mood. Out here on the open water I think happiness may be contagious because Auron has been acting happier than usual. Kimahri is definitely happy; I think he may have always wanted to be the captain of a boat or something.

Auron makes us practice a couple hours everyday, but besides that there's not much to do out here. It's nice, peaceful, and calm… definitely something we're not used to. Sometimes there is an unwanted side effect to peace and quite though, when it's peaceful you have time to think… and that's just what I've been doing. I've thought about Home, I've wondered how Pops and Brother are doing, I've wondered if my aunts and uncles that survived the attack three years ago are doing okay. I've wondered if they are rebuilding Home yet. I can't go back and find out yet though, not until this pilgrimage is over, maybe not even then. I guess eventually news will spread from Luca that there was an Al-Bhed summoner who saved them by the name of Rikku, but I wonder if Pops will even know that it was me. He should after all I am his daughter. I just hope if he does he don't come looking for me.

For the last few hours I've been bored out of my mind and trying not to think about everything, but it's hard you know, especially when you don't have anything else to do. If Yunie or Lulu were here I would have someone to talk to. I guess I could go talk to Auron or Kimahri, but the last time I checked they were busy discussing something about our ship. I could talk to myself but then everyone would think I am going crazy, and I don't need Auron considering me "mentally unstable" during this pilgrimage. I wish they would let me in on the discussion, but every time I approach them I get a "Not now, Rikku." from good old Auron. So I'm just sitting here thinking and twiddling my toes… ya know I'm getting really good at that lately.

Ya know, I never thought I could be really good friends with Auron and Kimahri until now. Auron, I think he's trying to make this as painless as possible for us both. Hey, he's even agreed to dance for me, nah, he really hasn't, that's not too bad of a thought though. Ya know I guess we now know the dangers of Rikku being bored… He did agree to teach me some sort of secret Bevellian stealth technique when we got the time.

After a while Auron comes walking towards me. We've done and practiced today so I know that's not what he's wanting. He slides down onto the floor beside of me and looks at me.

"You look worried?"

"Just thinking about stuff." I say.

"Stuff?" he says. The look on his face kinda says, 'Come on Rikku, tell me, I won't bite.'.

"Home, Pops, Brother, my friends, I guess I won't be seeing none of them for a long time huh?"

"Once this is over I'm sure you can see them."

"Yeah, I wonder what they'll do when they find out I'm not dead."

"They will probably be relieved." he says patting me on the shoulder.

"Hope so. I hope they don't consider me the prodigal daughter."

"I'm sure they won't."

"Thanks." I say leaning my head back against the wall.

"What else is on your mind?"

"I kinda miss Home. I wonder if they've rebuilt yet or not? I wonder how everyone is doing?"

"That's understandable." he says looking at me, "I'm sure everyone is fine."

"Yeah I hope so."

"I think dinner is ready." he says.

"Okay." I say getting up, "About time, I'm starved." Auron chuckles and follows me into our dining area. We eat in silence. After dinner I help Auron with the clean up and follow him around, probably annoying him, but he doesn't seem to mind, at least if he does he doesn't vocalize it. Then Auron has us practice again before dark. I work on summoning, Kimahri works on learning to steal, and Auron works on his healing magics. After we practice I lean back on the deck and watch the sunset.

Some time while the sun is setting Auron and Kimahri joins me and we talk about some of the stunts that Wakka and Tidus pulled on Yuna's pilgrimage. Even Auron chuckles over the time that Tidus tried to sneak into Yunie's room at the temple and almost broke his arm when he fell off the ladder. Its good sitting around and talking about the fun times. It makes me miss them even more though. After a while it gets dark, and Kimahri leaves us. Auron sits there, staring into the night sky.

"Pretty isn't it?" I say.

"Um hmm."

"What's on your mind?"

"Kimahri has been receiving some anonymous transmissions through the sphere, they sound vaguely Al-Bhed."

"I could translate them for you…

"You could, but we don't trust the source of them."

"It wouldn't hurt to see what they are saying would it?"

"Probably not."

"You want me to listen to them?"

"That's what Kimahri and I have been discussing. If its some kind of distress signal, you will most likely want to try and provide some help…

"And why would that be such a bad thing? I know it would slow us down."

"As I said we do not trust the source, it could be a trap."

"Or it could be normal Al-Bhed communication between ships." I say, "So can I listen?"

"Will you try and communicate with them?"

"No. I promise I won't." I say.

"I suppose you can… He starts and is unexpectedly wrapped in a bear hug. It's been so long since I have heard any of my family or friends' voices that I almost knock the poor guy on his side hugging him. After detaching my arms from around his neck he stands. "Come on."

I follow him excitedly, humming. Once in the Communications Room he flips on the sphere. First I hear static and then:

"Syotyo, Syotyo. Cinjejunc uh Creb. Cinjejunc uh Creb. Fa'na staticgehk. Fa fana static po dra static static. Lyh static rayn ic. E nabayd Syotyo. Cinjejunc uh creb. Fa haat ramb. Uin luuntehydac static static. Bmayca ramb ic. Drec ec dra Cay Xiaah, fa haat ouin ramb. "

"What are they saying?"

"Mayday, Mayday. Survivors on Ship. Survivors on Ship. We're sinking. We were by the . Can hear us. I repeat Mayday. Survivors on ship. We need help. Our coordinates . Please help us. This is the Sea Queen, we need your help." I say. "Auron…

"Rikku don't even say it."

"But Auron they sound so desperate." I say.

"They would."

"Of course they would, anyone would if their ship was sinking."

"Rikku…

"Auron what?"

"I told you that Kimahri and I do not trust the source of the transmissions."

"I know but it sounds real to me. The Sea Queen is a real Al-Bhed ship. Auron that ship is…

"It may be real, but either way it could still be a trap."

"Auron what if Pops and Brother are on that ship? I mean listen, the Sea Queen is Pops' ship."

"Rikku…

"Auron listen. Pops and Brother are the closest family I have left."

"I know." He says. "But Rikku."

"What Auron?"

"Rikku, what if we go and it's too late when we arrive? We don't even have the exact coordinates, and we've been getting that transmission for 18 hours now."

"Auron what if it isn't too late? We can use the Comm Protocol address to narrow down the location to say 80 kilometers."

"Okay do it." He says. "Once you're done, I'll tell Kimahri to set our course."

"Okay." I say and begin checking the CP address.

"I hope this isn't a trap."

"Auron how could it be one the only people that know the Sea Queens real name are us Al-Bhed?"

"When communicating with other ships don't you use the ships name?"

"Yes, but on those transmissions everything is usually encrypted."

"I know Rikku." He says and walks out of the room.

Once I have finished checking the CP address, I tell Auron, and he tells Kimahri. Then I go to bed.

I wake up sometime before the next morning. I get out of bed and go to the deck. Its early morning and I don't know…something doesn't feel right. Then I hear someone yelling from a distance. I run over and look out in the direction the screaming is coming from and see a boat sitting about ninety feet away. I can't tell for sure what they are saying, but it doesn't sound good. _Please don't let this be the Bevellian Navy!_


End file.
